Deuteronomy 6:4 Meaning and Explanation
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Jewish tradition calls this sentence the Shema, from its opening Hebrew word for hear, and it has been recited daily for thousands of years. Jesus quoted it when asked which commandment is first of all. Studying Deuteronomy 6:4 is worth the effort because a whole way of life follows from what a people confesses about who their God is.
Israel is summoned to hear a single confession: the LORD our God is one LORD. The sentence names Israel's God by His covenant name and declares His unity and uniqueness.
The Context of Deuteronomy 6:4
Moses is addressing Israel on the plains of Moab, near the end of his life, as the nation prepares to enter Canaan. Chapter 6 opens with the commandments, statutes, and judgments to be taught and kept in the land (verse 1), with long life and increase promised to those who fear the LORD (verses 2-3). Verse 4 states the confession, verse 5 gives the great command to love, and verses 6-9 describe keeping these words in the heart, teaching them to children, and binding and writing them on hands, gates, and doorposts.
What Does Deuteronomy 6:4 Mean?
'Hear, O Israel' is an imperative addressed to the whole nation, calling for the kind of listening that leads to doing. What follows is compact in Hebrew, four words, which is why English translations render it in several ways: 'the LORD our God is one LORD,' or 'the LORD is our God, the LORD alone.' The covenant name appears twice, framing the sentence. 'Our God' claims relationship, so the confession is personal as well as theological. The word 'one' carries both unity and exclusivity, declaring the LORD to be Israel's God with no rival beside Him and no division in His character or purpose.
The confession stands at the head of the chapter's instructions for the same reason a foundation stands under a house. Everything Moses asks next depends on it: undivided love, words kept in the heart, children taught along the road, and warnings against following the gods of surrounding peoples (verse 14). Israel was entering a land crowded with local deities, and a divided allegiance would have felt natural there. This sentence closes that option. It also gathers up the whole of Deuteronomy's argument, since a people with one God can have one law, one loyalty, and one story to tell their children.
When a scribe asked which commandment is first, Jesus began His answer here, quoting Deuteronomy 6:4 before the command to love (Mark 12:29). The scribe agreed that there is one God and none other beside Him, and Jesus told him he was near the kingdom. Paul writes to Corinth that for us there is one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6), setting the confession alongside the Son through whom all things came. The Shema keeps its place in Christian faith, and the New Testament writers hand it on rather than setting it aside.
Deuteronomy 6:4 in the Original Language
shema (שְׁמַע), 'Hear' -- a Hebrew imperative meaning to listen, and by extension to heed or obey. The word supplies the traditional name for this passage, and it asks for attention that ends in action rather than in agreement alone.
Bible Verses Related to Deuteronomy 6:4
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:”
- Mark 12:29
“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
- Deuteronomy 6:5
“Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.”
- Deuteronomy 4:35
“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
- 1 Corinthians 8:6
Where Deuteronomy 6:4 Echoes in Scripture
Mark 12:29 preserves the strongest echo, with Jesus reciting the opening words of this verse in Jerusalem during the last week of His public teaching. He does so in answer to a direct question about the first commandment, which places the Shema at the head of everything He taught about the law. The scribe's response and Jesus' reply show two Jewish teachers agreeing about the heart of Israel's faith. Centuries after Moses spoke on the plains of Moab, the same sentence still opened the conversation.
How to Apply Deuteronomy 6:4 Today
Divided loyalty rarely announces itself. It shows up in a calendar, a budget, and the things we reach for first when trouble comes. Confessing that the LORD our God is one LORD gives us a plain question to ask about any of these: does this share the place that belongs to Him alone? Saying the sentence aloud at the start of a day is an old and useful practice, since spoken words shape attention. Households can make it part of a morning or bedtime rhythm, exactly as the following verses describe, so that the confession becomes ordinary furniture in a home.
Reflection & Prayer
What has quietly taken a share of the place that belongs to God alone in our lives? A prayer: LORD our God, You are one LORD. Gather my scattered loyalties into one. Where I have hedged, forgive me, and teach me to hear You in a way that shows in how I spend my hours. Let this confession be the first thing I say and the last thing I forget. Amen.